Brilliant underground hack will make sure you always get on the tube

If you’re a Londoner you’ll no doubt be familiar with the daily gauntlet of rucksacks, FT readers, tourists and unpredictable door openings that makes up the average tube run.

It's an at once mystifying and terrifying experience that you either love or hate (mostly hate) but also an unfortunate necessity. And, as the colder months fall upon us, it’s probably only going to get worse during rush hour.

While we can’t banish the tube from your life completely, we can make life slightly easier when it comes to making sure you get on a carriage.

The key you see, is standing in the right place and making sure you’re at the front when the doors open. But how do you do that you wonder? How on earth do you predict where those fateful doors are going to stop?

The answer is quite simple and comes courtesy of Martin Strohmeier on Quora.

“98 per cent of the time it’s easy to tell where the doors will be on the platform when the train will stop.”

Simply look for the wear and tear on the yellow line.

“One doesn’t need a keen eye to spot the dirty, worn parts on the line, where everybody steps on. Unless it’s freshly painted, this is absolutely reliable (at platforms that use the same type of trains at least.”